Operation Rainbow Roost: Rainbow Lorikeet, An Urban Pest BirdLife Western Australia August 2018 A report of BirdLife Western Australia. Prepared by Robyn Pickering of Perth Birds and Bush. Acknowledgements BirdLife Western Australia thanks our funding partner, the State Natural Resource Management Office, who without their generous funding we would not have been able to undertake this project. BirdLife Western Australia thanks the generous support of our wonderful volunteers. Hundreds of volunteers have downloaded and entered data into the Birdata portal. This project has also had over 370 volunteers who have completed roost counts, reported roost sites or provided valuable information about Rainbow Lorikeets. In particular, we would like to thank Susan Abbotts, William Betts, Xenia Dennett, Ken Glasson, Neil Hamilton, Stella Stewart-Wynne and Ted Stewart-Wynne who have put in additional effort locating or counting at multiple roost sites or coordinating large sites. The City of Cockburn and Beaver Tree Services partnered with us to reduce Rainbow Lorikeet nesting habitat. The City of Cockburn provided funding, management, time and media coverage for palm tree maintenance. Beaver Tree Services provided a much-reduced work pay rate for the palm tree maintenance work. BirdLife Western Australia thanks our project partner the Department of Primary Resources and Regional Development (DPIRD) who have provided great support. Particularly we would like to thank Andrew Reeves and Lindsay Strange who have provided letters of support, information from past DPIRD work and assistance throughout the project timeframe. BirdLife Western Australia thanks our supporters for this project: • The Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions (DBCA), • Western Australian Local Government Association (WALGA), • Perth Natural Resource Management (PNRM), • The Western Australian Museum (WAM), and • The Western Australian Naturalists Club All of which have provided letters of support and advice to the project. Particularly we would like to thank Manda Page and Mark Blythman from the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions (DBCA), who have provided substantial advice. Contents Project Summary ......................................................................................................... 1 Introduction ................................................................................................................ 4 Project Aims ................................................................................................................ 4 Results ....................................................................................................................... 5 Distribution ....................................................................................................................... 5 Counts ............................................................................................................................. 7 Aussie Backyard Bird Count ................................................................................................. 10 Breeding records ............................................................................................................... 10 Nectar Feeder Trial ............................................................................................................ 13 Palm Tree Study ................................................................................................................ 16 Aboriginal Consultation ....................................................................................................... 20 Perth Rainbow Lorikeet Knowledge Survey ............................................................................ 21 Increasing Awareness of the pest status of Rainbow Lorikeet ................................................... 28 Volunteer effort ................................................................................................................. 29 Discussion ................................................................................................................... 31 Distribution ....................................................................................................................... 31 Counts ............................................................................................................................. 33 Breeding Records .............................................................................................................. 35 Impacts of Rainbow Lorikeets .............................................................................................. 35 Rainbow Lorikeet Management ............................................................................................ 39 Conclusions and Recommendations ................................................................................ 43 References .................................................................................................................. 45 Appendix 1: February 2017 and 2018 Roost counts .......................................................... 46 Appendix 2: 2017 Aussie Backyard Bird Count Infographic ................................................ 48 Appendix 3: Nectar Feeder Camera Images ..................................................................... 50 Appendix 4: Palm Tree Maps ......................................................................................... 57 Appendix 5: Media Release ........................................................................................... 59 Appendix 6: A Nyoongar view of Rainbow Lorikeets in the Perth region ............................... 62 Appendix 7: Perth Residents Knowledge of Rainbow Lorikeets ........................................... 63 Appendix 8: Some of the comments from the Rainbow Lorikeet Knowledge Survey. ............. 65 Appendix 9: Awareness Raising/Media reports ................................................................. 67 Appendix 10: Rainbow Lorikeet: A pretty powerful pest brochure ....................................... 69 Appendix 11: Comparison of species abundance in the Perth Metropolitan Area. .................. 70 Project Summary Rainbow Lorikeets were introduced to Perth in the 1960’s (Chapman 2005, Chapman and Massam 2006). Their population has increased rapidly since then and this has been detrimental to locally native fauna. An estimated 40,000+ Rainbow Lorikeets (RL) are now believed to be living in the greater Perth Metropolitan Area (Reeves and Scourse 2015, citing Ron Johnstone). These birds pose a major risk to Western Australian community values such as damage to infrastructure, displacement of native species, fouling and damage to private and public amenities and the potential to spread bird diseases. The Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD) declared the Rainbow Lorikeet a pest species in the southern parts of the state in 2001 (Edwards 2002, Massam, Sinclair and Mawson 2006, Chapman and Massam 2006 and Massam and Wright 2008). With funding from the State Natural Resource Management (NRM) office, Operation Rainbow Roost was commenced in March 2016 to address the management of Rainbow Lorikeets in the greater Perth Metropolitan Area. In September 2016 BirdLife Australia released the phone app “Birdata” for both Apple and Android phones. It was also released as a computer web-based system, allowing users to use their phones, tablets or computers to report bird data. This app includes several project specific sections, including those for Operation Rainbow Roost. The Birdata portal is set-up so that any records of Rainbow Lorikeet occurring outside the containment line around the greater Perth metropolitan area is immediately reported to DPIRD. BirdLife’s volunteer network was asked to seek out and map Rainbow Lorikeet Roost sites in southwest Western Australia. The mapping and counting of lorikeet roosts provide the best way to estimate the population of this highly invasive species. In 2016/17 a total of 31 roost sites were found and confirmed and during February 2017 volunteers counted a total of 13,047 lorikeets at 27 of these roost sites and a minimum total of 480 lorikeets were estimated to be present at the remaining four sites (BirdLife Western Australia 2017). In early 2017, the State NRM office agreed to fund the project again until July 2018 under the title Rainbow Lorikeet: An Urban Pest. This report documents the progress made in this second part of the project. This second round of funding aimed to: • Find further roost sites and conduct another roost count in February 2018. • Develop and distribute a brochure to educate people on the pest status of the Rainbow Lorikeet in Perth. • Determine the indigenous perspective on this pest species and learn about indigenous significance of the birds possibly being impacted by it. • Conduct a nectar feeder trial to see if these could be used as a future species-specific control/sterility delivery system. • Collate information about Palm Trees that provide nesting opportunities for lorikeets and the potential costs to reduce this nesting resource. In February and early March 2018, volunteers counted a total of 16,523 lorikeets at 48 roost sites and a minimum total of 450 lorikeets were estimated to be present at another seven sites. The nectar feeder trial was conducted over two separate four-week periods. These were done in January and from mid-February 2018 to mid-March 2018. Nectar feeders were set up in five zones